


Making Up for Lost Time

by goldenhand9107



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Episode: s01e08 The Upside Down, Gen, I haven't seen this missing scene done before, Missing Scene, POV Steve Harrington, Season/Series 01, Steve Harrington-centric, so i decided to do it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-06
Updated: 2020-01-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:34:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22137880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goldenhand9107/pseuds/goldenhand9107
Summary: When the lights stopped flickering, how does everyone get to the hospital to see Will? What happened in between?Missing scene for 1x08, where Jonathan and Nancy explain everything and Steve (kind of) meets Dustin and Lucas. Canon compliant.
Relationships: Jonathan Byers & Steve Harrington, Jonathan Byers & Steve Harrington & Nancy Wheeler, Steve Harrington & Nancy Wheeler
Comments: 2
Kudos: 29





	Making Up for Lost Time

**Author's Note:**

> Somehow, I haven't seen this done, but it's basically Jonathan and Nancy explaining everything to Steve. It also just fills in some of the blanks between the teenagers fighting the demogorgon at the house and getting to the hospital. Pretty simple stuff, and I did my best to make it seem in character and believable. 
> 
> Mostly Steve's POV. One of my first few fics, so I hope everyone enjoys. Cheers!

Steve felt like he was going to pass out. 

It wasn’t the first time he’d felt something like this, on the edge of consciousness, ready to fall over at the drop of a hat and sleep for a few hours. Basketball practice and games were exhausting and he’d be lying if he said that he’d never needed to take a breather after some vigorous exercise. 

However, this was _most certainly_ not a basketball game.

What this was, Steve had no idea. Flickering Christmas lights, towering monsters with terrifying faces that seemed to be ripped straight from an alien movie, and Jonathan and Nancy smack in the middle of it. There was something more here, some explanation that would surely solve every question Steve had. But for the time being, Steve was mystified. 

Currently, he, Jonathan and Nancy were shakily gazing out into the eerie dark forest; Steve still had the bat with nails slung over his shoulder. They’d slowly followed the flickering lights out of the Byers’ house, and were standing on the porch, tensely waiting in anticipation for something, anything to happen. 

“Where’s it going?” Nancy asked, eyes never leaving the lamp which buzzed with electricity. 

“I don’t think that’s the monster.” Jonathan responded quietly, which earned rightfully confused looks from Steve and Nancy. If not that _thing,_ then what else? What else could be having the same effect on the lights? And now that Steve had started thinking about it–

“Okay, so would now be the appropriate time to ask the two of you _what the hell is happening_?” Steve yelled. He dropped the bat, laying it against the post of the porch as he startled both of them with his loud demand. Nancy jumped, but inhaled soon after to calm herself down. Jonathan also twitched slightly, but his eyes barely left the lamp. He sighed, and turned to look at Nancy. 

Nancy and Jonathan seemed to having a completely silent conversation for a few seconds. 

“Well?” Steve asked impatiently. Nancy grimaced and walked back into the house without so much as glance in Steve’s direction. Jonathan paused, gave him a knowing but regretful look, and followed her inside. Steve was practically incredulous, but followed the two of them, still confused as ever. 

He closed the door behind him, again taking in the Christmas lights strung up around the house, as well as the black painted letters on the wall. He put his hands on his hips, and stared at the two of them expectantly. Another long pause. Nancy took a big sigh and decided to break the silence. 

“We’ve been trying to kill it. We thought it took Barb.” She paused, looking hurt. “Which it apparently did.” She made eye contact with Steve, who’s demeanor immediately softened at the mention of her missing friend. He was about to speak but Nancy interrupted him.

“It killed her.” She croaked out. Realization immediately struck him of the trauma Nancy must’ve been through the past few days. This wasn’t the first time the two of them had encountered that monster. They’d been tracking it. Steve was speechless, as he put together separate events. Nancy practicing with the bat. Jonathan must’ve been comforting her that night in her room. When Steve didn’t respond to what Nancy said, Jonathan cut in. 

“It took my brother too. He’s not dead, though. Not yet, at least.” Jonathan added. It was now when Steve felt guilt for how he’d treated Jonathan, as the reality of the situation sunk in. Steve frankly deserved to get his ass kicked. He sighed, and leaned back against the door, crossing his arms. 

“I’m….I’m sorry man.” He regretted not being there for Nancy. She seemed incredibly shaken up, and it was Jonathan who’d been there, not him. Silence again, and both Jonathan and Nancy sat down on the couch. No one made eye contact for at least 30 seconds, before Steve cautiously spoke. 

“So…what is it? I mean, it clearly wasn’t like, an animal. Unless it was, and I’m going crazy, but I’m pretty sure that thing was 8 feet tall or something and….” He trailed off, stopping himself from rambling and cleared his throat. Jonathan and Nancy looked back at each other. 

“We don’t really know.” She said slowly. “It’s from another world, an alternate universe or something, and it came here through a gate at Hawkins lab.” Nancy clarified. Steve squinted in confusion. 

“Alternate…universe.” He repeated slowly. She nodded. 

“I was there. It’s real, trust me.” Nancy asserted. Steve knew there was a story there, but Nancy didn’t seem to want to tell it.

“That’s how it makes the lights flicker. It’s a reflection of our world, so the location there corresponds to your location here. The lights indicate that there’s something in the same place but in the other world.” Jonathan added. “That’s how we knew it was coming.”

“Wait, but when we were following the lights before, you said…“Mom”.” Steve questioned. Jonathan inhaled again. 

“My moms’ there now. Getting my brother back with the Chief. She must’ve been in the house.” Steve’s eyebrows raised dramatically. 

“Who? The Chief? As in police? He knows about all this?” He stood up straight. 

“Yeah, and so do my brother and all his friends. They’ve been looking for Will longer than we were hunting the monster.” Nancy said. “They tracked down this girl who had something to do with the scientists who opened the gate.”

“Wait, what? Girl?” Steve asked, aware how idiotic he must sound but ignored the feeling for now. 

“It's complicated.”She sighed. “All we know is she has ESP or something. She’s the one who told me about……” Nancy trailed off, but the pained look in her eyes told Steve that this girl told them about Barb. 

Steve commented quietly, “Jesus.” They all sat in silence once more. 

“We were supposed to wait around for the Chief and my mom to get Will back from…the other world. But, we wanted to kill it. We lured it here, and that’s when you showed up.” Jonathan finished. Steve could tell there were many more details being left out of their story, but for now, they all mutually agreed to stop talking about it. 

Steve hung around for a while longer, cleaning himself up and helping Nancy and Jonathan clean the house up as well. They all stayed virtually silent, only a few short sentences here and there. They were all still reeling from fighting off an interdimensional monster, and Steve was frankly exhausted after that whole ordeal. Jonathan mentioned that the kids were back at the middle school, which is where they were supposed to stay too. The three of them decided to head back, in case something had happened (they had no way of communicating with everyone else since Nancy had broken the phone). 

The car ride was silent. No music, small talk or even heavy sighs. Just three frightened teenagers mulling over the events that had transpired. Steve sat in the backseat watching trees fly by in the dark, hoping with every part of himself he wouldn’t catch a glimpse of the thing they’d fought a few hours ago. 

Jonathan pulled into the parking lot of the school slowly, and the three of them took in the scene. The area was littered with flashing lights, cop cars, ambulances, and fire trucks. They all exchanged a worried look. 

“Jonathan look, that’s my brother.” Nancy pointed. “And…my parents.” She seemed confused but relieved. Jonathan put the car in park and Nancy rushed out of the passenger seat. Steve hung back for a minute with Jonathan, but after a glance at each other, they both decided to follow her, maybe get an explanation from the many officers rushing around. 

They walked up to the Wheelers slowly. Nancy was embraced in a hug with her mom, while Mike looked as sad as ever leaning against his dad. Steve felt out of place, but, based on the look on his face, so did Jonathan; at least he wasn’t all alone. Quick conversation of questioning and worry happened between the Wheelers, and when Mrs. Wheeler asked Nancy where she’d been, she froze. 

Steve wondered how she intended to explain this. He didn’t expect her to share the details of the last few hours, and based on the glance Jonathan gave him, neither did he.

“Um….I…was with Steve. And Jonathan. We….we were…we were working on something…..for school.” She fibbed. Nancy cleared her throat as if to signal to help with her cover story. 

Steve realized. “Oh! Yeah. Totally. Definitely. Project for– ”

“History.” Jonathan interjected. Mrs. Wheeler didn’t seem to give their explanation another thought, as she pulled Nancy into another hug. 

Their conversation was interrupted by a policeman walking over to them. 

“Excuse me, are you Mike Wheeler?” He asked. Mike solemnly looked up at the officer. Something heavy was weighing down this kid. 

“I have the Chief on the radio. He heard we were at the school and wanted me to relay a message to you and the other kids.” He paused. “Are you Mrs. Wheeler?” The man asked. She nodded. 

“Good that you’re here.” He looked back at Mike. “They found Will. They’re at the hospital now.” The man smiled slightly before walking away. 

Jonathan’s eyes welled with tears and his knees almost buckled from happiness. Mike started crying, which to Steve, looked like it wasn’t the first time this night. Everyone else simply stared at the elder Byers in shock, who was currently stifling cries into his arm. Steve pushed away any pride he had, and put his hand on Jonathan’s shoulder. Nancy had her arm wrapped around Jonathan’s and she smiled brightly at him. 

“Oh my goodness. Ted, go start the car. We’re heading there now.” Mrs. Wheeler quickly got everyone moving. Jonathan ceased his tears, looked at the group, and took off back towards his car. He yelled at two other kids to join him as he ran, both of whom stood up quickly and chased after him. Steve looked at Nancy. She nodded.

“Go with him. I’ll see you at the hospital.” She followed her family, while Steve turned and ran after Jonathan. He jumped into the passenger seat of the car, as two kids he didn’t recognize scrambled into the backseat. 

“What is it? Where are we going?” The one with the hat asked. He closed the door behind him and Jonathan stepped on the gas, heading towards the street. 

“And, who are you?” The other one asked. Steve was zoned out momentarily, but soon realized the kid was talking to him. 

“Oh. I’m Steve.” He said, as he turned his head to look at them. Both of the kids seemed confused. 

“We’re going to the hospital. Hopper found Will.” Jonathan said quickly. Both of the kids lit up with excitement. 

“They found him! You mean he’s out of the Upside Down? Yes!” They cheered and hugged each other, screams of happiness overlapping with excited statements. Steve furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. 

“Uh, what’s the Upside Down?” Steve asked once their yells died down. Jonathan answered before the kids could. 

“It’s what they’ve been calling the other world.” He said thoughtlessly. 

“Weird name.” Steve remarked. The kid in the hat had his mouth hanging open. 

“Wait. He knows? About all this crazy shit?” He asked. Steve snorted slightly at the kid’s language. 

“Yeah man, I fought off the monster at Byers’ house.” Steve turned around again to look at the two kids who looked shocked. 

“You fought the demogorgon too?” The kid with the camo bandana asked. 

“What do you mean too?” “Demogorgon?” Jonathan and Steve asked at the same time. They glanced at each other. 

“Demogorgon, that’s what it’s called. It was at the school, that's what the ambulances were there for. It killed a bunch of the scientists who came looking for El. But….she killed it, so it’s gone now.” The kid with the hat suddenly looked sad, similar to how Mike looked back at the parking lot. 

“It’s gone?” “Who’s El?” Jonathan and Steve questioned at the same time again. Steve looked over at him once more, this time to ask another question.

“Girl?” He asked, and Jonathan answered his question with a nod. 

“Yeah, she disintegrated it. But….she also disappeared too.” Camo bandana added. Ah. This must’ve been why Mike seemed so sad. Steve wanted to ask _how_ some girl from a lab could kill that thing…. _Demogorgon_ ….but now didn’t seem like the time or place. 

After the brief explainer descended into sadness, the rest of the car ride remained silent. Steve never did ask the kid’s names, but he figured he’d get them eventually. Maybe from Nancy. 

By the time they got to the hospital, Steve now realized he felt _really_ out of place. They’d been ushered into a waiting room, while Jonathan had been whisked away to see Will and presumably his mother. Everyone here knew Will, and the one who didn’t, the police chief, had been the one who found him. Steve….he had just driven to the Byers’ house at the worst time possible and subsequently been sucked into the craziest thing he’d ever experienced. 

He blankly stared at the ground thinking. Eventually this would all be behind him, right? Eventually he’d be able to go back to being a normal high schooler without worrying about monsters or other universes or girls with….superpowers, he guessed. He sighed. 

Presently, he glanced up at Nancy. He wanted to talk to her about all of this, take her somewhere where they could just be alone. So he could be there, hold her, comfort her now because he didn't then. He should've been by her side, helped her through this crazy shit, but he was too concerned with his own jealousy to notice something was off. There was so much he wished for, so much he wished to change. But all of that was in the past. He could do nothing about it but stand by her and tell her that the trauma was over. That was the only thing he was concerned with. Making up for lost time. 

But for now, he sat in silence, along with everyone else, the hospital lights flickering ominously above his head. 


End file.
